Home Is Where The Hurt Is Is home really where the heart is? When one knows the history of their hometown, can they truly still uphold the same level of respect and admiration? The speaker in “South” by Natasha Trethewey battles this obscurity as they return to their home, Mississippi. As the speaker returns home, physical features of the state triggers reminiscence. Though these attributes are what makes home so special to the speaker, simultaneously it causes the poet to realize the meaning behind it all. The speaker recognizes the historical context beyond the surface; for example the poet says, “and magnolias blooming like afterthought: each flower a surrender, white flags draped among the branches”. (Trethewey 5) In this quote, it is being translated that the beautiful flowers that …show more content…
They are aware of the social and systematic problems but due to many years of oppression and mistreatment in their region, the speaker comes across as very discouraged to bring about change. The speaker states, “I return to mississippi, state that made a crime of me -mulatto, half breed -native in my native land this place they'll bury me.” (Trethewey 29) The speaker expresses the disrespect she has received from the very place she calls home, but despite the mistreatment she doesn't plan on drifting away from her state. The audience of the speaker truly seems to be him or herself. The poet is reflecting to themself in a coming of age manner. The poet seemed to be away from their hometown for a while, and upon returning they may have realized aspects of their community in a more intellectual and spiritual way (post learning and evolving in this world), a way they have never noticed before. Upon returning home, the poet says, “I returned to a country battlefield where colored troops fought and died.” (Trethewey 21) The poet is utilizing learned knowledge to analyze something that once seemed to be so innocent and
Lawlessness was what ruled the lands until order was settled in, through the system. As a way to control, officials began utilizing criminal law to their advantage, by forcing freed slaves back to captivity, under the state’s control. With no actual prison, politicians, businessmen, and sheriffs took it upon themselves to use the prisoners for what they thought better. Injustice and violence against the African American population was popular in many states, especially in the South, where groups not only used political influence to downgrade the rights of African Americans but also, arson, intimidation and lynching. This might have been one of the “better” moments that characterized Mississippi’s racial injustice.
In Michelle Alexander’s talk, she described how discrimination becomes legalized once individuals become branded as a felon. As a result of a felony conviction, tons of offenders lose their right to vote, right to serve on jury, right to be free on legal discrimination regarding housing, and access to education. These restrictions connect to the systems of privilege, as it reinforces the stigma against felons while the social power of law enforcement agencies rises. The systems of privilege get maintained with the use of social control. According to statistics that Alexander gathered, African American males were the ones mostly affected by the felon disenfranchisement laws.
In stanza five, the narrator sounds matter-of-fact while describing the soldier’s dead and decaying body, but also seemingly lacks pity as the narrator mocks the dead soldier. The narrator notes that the soldier’s girlfriend “…would weep to see to-day/ how on his skin the swart flies move;” and though another casualty in war is saddening, it is simply another casualty and nothing more. Douglas’ simple and unsentimental language emphasizes that war cannot be sugar-coated, it is bloody and
But , Mississippi past is embed with violence. Mississippi is slow to change. But, when it does, everything and everyone is affected by it. Stretching away the way from the early settlers through the long ride to freedom, Mississippi’s past
Life can be boring, especially when you might have lived in a certain place for so long. However, to have a place to call home is the most comfort feeling anyone can have, even if they have been moving their whole lives. But home, does not always mean a physical place, but the bond shared with people in that place. In Scott Russell Sanders essay, Homeplace, he expresses how people staying is good because one can truly respect or feel blessed of what they have received than to throw away the effort that once existed. Yet, Richard Ford’s
What is going on at the beginning of the story? In the beginning of the story, the middle-aged Rosa, the young Stella, and the infant Magda are walking as a family through the cold and harshness of winter. They are walking because they are captured jews toward a concentration camp. The author indirectly hints this to the reader by writing, “hair nearly as yellow as the Star sewn into Rosa’s coat.
Mississippi was one of the worst states when it came to racism and segregation. Signs often labeled buildings and water fountains as “colored” and “whites”. Blacks were often denied social forms of respect. Consequently, black men were often addressed as “boy” by whites. Although blacks were humans the same as whites, they were expected to act differently.
Mississippi is a southern state and at the time the southern states were the worst about segregation. Stockett, the author, really brought to life how racism and segregation affected people, making them scared to speak up. Throughout the book the issue of race was very obvious. Segregation was natural for the time, which is awful to think about. Racism was very prominent in all aspects of African Americans lives.
The poem mentions a flower, one that is “unsweetened by rain, untarnished by simpering, uncuckolded by men” (Maracle 156), pointing out to the reader that the flower is tenacious regardless of the situation that it is placed in. Maracle intentionally chooses a flower to represent the Chinese, as oftentimes a flower is symbolizes “strength and courageousness” (Koehn 1952) in chinese culture, revealing the respect that Maracle has for the Chinese. A discriminatory act upon the Chinese was the racial segregation into Chinatown during the time of the gold rush and the building of the railroad. Overtime, the segregation caused many Chinese to be silenced, fearing for their lives. Maracle chooses to dedicate the poem to Sky Lee and Jim Wong-Chu to show gratitude for the developments they have made towards encouraging the Chinese community to speak out against
According to Politidou, “before 1967 interracial marriages were illegal in sixteen states and children born of these unions were regarded as illegitimate” (13). One of these sixteen states was Mississippi, which the speaker indicates that there is something wrong in this place making use of a pun with the State’s name. The wrong thing was that African-descent people were treated as second-class citizens and that they did not have the same rights as white citizens in this place. Furthermore, for the population of this place an interracial marriage went against all the social precepts that were established. Consequently, the Trethewey’s
By using the word “flowers”, she is referring to the best and youngest years of her life which are most appealing to her husbands. She wants to use these blooming years to win her husbands’ approval and therefore gain his
We’re all separated, living different lives, but we’re good and stable. Others just know the outcome of how my family is right now while a few know the whole story. My home has so many memories I don’t want to remember, but it has shaped who I am today, especially being separated from my little brother and the events leading up to it. In Joan Didion, “On Going Home”, the author talks about how difficult it is going back home to her family in the Central Valley of California and how uneasy it gets going back.
This poem dramatizes the conflict between war and chaos to the need for rejuvenation and peace as the speaker explains that "it is a war or other"(line 9) and she is traveling on a journey to escape the war zone. She describes herself as "An animal/Insane for the destination"(lines 56-57) in which she hopes it will change her. The narrator describes the setting of the war with "Thunder and guns/ The fires between us"(lines 50-51) under which represents the constant fear she lives in and her desperation for the journey to end by saying "How fair is it?/How far is it now?"(lines 1-2). Her journey through the "mud" gets her on "Adam's side" which is the beginning of her rebirth.
The poem is set in a letter to Miss Michelle Cutliffe Ticknor, the poets granddaughter. While she has never experience the war in the way the solider has the recounting of his story gives her insight into what he has suffered and his bravery to continue fighting (read
The following poem discusses the dilemma of a colored student, who shares his understanding of identity throughout the poem. Failure to truly comprehend the “simple” assignment of writing a “page (come) out of you” (4) results in the persona’s internal struggle to translate his identity into words. The poet hints at a sense of isolation and abnormality, through the use of imagery in “the only colored student in my class” (Hughes, line 10). The line depicts the racial ethnicity of the persona, and the heightens the sense of individuality. The appeal to one’s sight in the use of imagery provokes an image of the clear contrast of being one against all.